Swelling: Swelling can greatly be reduced by reducing you intake of alcohol, tobacco, spicy foods or foods that are hot in temperature and/or other irritants. Also gently sucking on crushed ice and drinking ice water. Taking ibuprofen (Advil or Motrin). Do not take ibuprofen on an empty stomach. SWELLING (especially with tongues).. WHAT KINDs OF FOOD ARE BEST: 1.Cold items such as smothies, apple sauce, frozen yogurt, ice cream, mashed potatoes (at room temperature) baby food, jell-O and soup broth (not tomato based and at room temperature). 2.It is also best to stay to a soft food diet until the swelling reduces and then only eat solid food when comfortable and always be careful to take your time. If it takes you half an hour to eat one meal it’s better then causing damage to your teeth and/or gums. 3.Also, I strongly suggest eating 2 to 3 cartons of yogurt a day. Yogurt can reduce the likelihood of Thrush. REMOVING THE JEWELRY & DOWN SIZING: With Tongue piercings, the jewelry length should be reduced within 7 -10 days. Do not remove the jewelry for any reason while it is healing and even after it is healed only remove the jewelry to replace it because you produce tissue in your mouth at such a fast pace it is not uncommon to remove the jewelry for short periods and cause the hole to close even on healed piercings. Precautions & abuse: Check the tightness of the balls if the jewelry is a barbell before and after every meal and before and after you sleep to avoid ball loss. Do not play/pull or over handle the piercing until it is fully healed. Do keep in mind that playing with the piercing even after it is healed will increase chances of damage to teeth, bones and gums. Cross Contamination Prevention: No oral contact/wet mouth kissing and sexual contact with the piercing for the first 8 week. Understand that even with a well healed oral piercing that you are more acceptable to S.T.D.s during oral sex. So, please practice Safe Sex. Also avoid putting things in tour mouth that may introduce harmful bacteria including unwashed hands, pens, tooth picks, etc...... Always wash your hands with an antibacterial soap before handling the piercing or jewelry. INFECTIONS: CAUSES: Infection is caused by contact with bacteria fungi and/or other pathogens. These can be caused by contact with dirty hands. Oral contact (including your one saliva) exchanging of bodily fluids, hair cosmetics, oils, unwashed clothing/bedding/towels and or submerging the piercing into natural waters, hot tubs, swimming pools and or unclean bath tubs. SIgnS: Redness, discoloration, swelling, heat/fever, on or around the piercing, pain that is throbbing and/or shooting/travels, pus and/or discharge that is unusual in color like grayish, yellowish and/or greenish. WHAT DO I NEED TO DO? First off contact your piercer so they can take a look at it. The two worst things that you can do is put off getting it taken care of and/or removing the jewelry. Both can cause the infection to spread if not taken care of. When in doubt see your doctor. Thrush: Do to the fact that you are rinsing a great deal more then you would do normally you have a higher risk of a fungi infection called thrush. Thrush will coat your tongue with a white fiber like substance, can have a odor and can be uncomfortable. You can greatly reduce the risk by making sure you are rinsing not more then 15 times daily with Biotene or other Alccohol free antispetic mouth washes, eating 2 to 3 cartons of yogurt a day and make sure that you are not on any anti-biotics while you are rinsing that often. Your Jewelry is__________Gauge_____/______Wide_____________________________________ Your Piercing was done by___________ on ___________ __ __, 200____.Average Healing time is______Weeks. The Axiom/The Skin Kitchen/2607 Douglas Avenue/Ste. C//Des Moines, Iowa 50310 (515)255.4430/CEL (515)991-8180/E-MAI davo@axiompiercing.com website http://www.axiompiercing.comA Aftercare Instructions for Oral Piercings version 6 January 27h, 2007 © copyright 1994-2007 Axiom Inc./David “DaVo” Wilkins